Newspaper Page Text
The
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
Vol. 27 No. 2
Thursday, January 12, 1989
$15.00 Per Year
Potential Buyer Leases
Blessed Sacrament Church
BY GRETCHEN REISER
Parishioners of Blessed Sacrament
Church in the Ben Hill section of Atlanta
celebrated Mass at the church for what
may be the last time this past weekend.
The building, and the 33-acre property
surrounding it, has been leased to an Ac-
worth church organization with a six-
month lease-purchase agreement. The
potential buyer is the Monumental
Faith and Worship Center, Inc. of Ac-
worth. The sale price is $1.2 million.
The members of the parish will begin
celebrating Mass the weekend of Jan. 14
and 15 in an Episcopal church nearby, the
Church of the Resurrection, at Dodson
Drive and Hogan Road in East Point.
At this point, future plans for the parish
are unclear, according to the pastor,
LaSalette Father Joseph Aquino. The
Episcopal church will be sharing its
facilities with Blessed Sacrament until
Easter, he said. At that time, the
Episcopal church, whose congregation has
diminished to about 25 families, will be up
for sale. Whether Blessed Sacrament will
attempt to purchase that church, or make
some other move is not decided, the pastor
said.
Although Blessed Sacrament parish,
which serves East Point, College Park and
Ben Hill, had at one time a larger com
munity with a Catholic school, the area’s
demographics appear to have altered once
hopeful plans for growth and construction
at this site.
On the 33 acres at Stone Road is a large,
multi-purpose building, constructed in
1965, that housed the elementary school,
and the first church sanctuary. Sisters of
St. Joseph of Carondelet and a lay staff
taught at the school from 1965 to 1976. A
parish bulletin from March 1967, shows an
active laity under the pastor, Father
(Continued on page 10)
Episcopal Clergymen Seek
Ordination In Archdiocese
BY RITA McINERNEY
The dossiers of two married Episcopal
clergymen who have requested ordination
as Roman Catholic priests have been sub
mitted by the archdiocese of Atlanta to the
Vatican and are now under study by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The clergymen are Father Thad Rudd
and Father David Dye. Father Rudd was
rector of the Church of Our Saviour on
North Highland Avenue, Atlanta. Father
Dye was assistant rector at St. Martin- in-
the-Fields on Ashford Dunwoody Road,
Atlanta.
In the case of Father Rudd, a group of
his parishioners, estimated to be 40 to 50
people, made the decision to seek admis
sion to the Roman Catholic Church with
him. They have formed themselves as the
Community of St. Augustine of Canterbury
and held the first service of evening prayer
at All Saints Catholic Church in Dunwoody
on Sunday, Jan. 8. A parish reception to
welcome them was held the same evening.
Father Dye and his family have been
received into the Catholic Church while
Father Rudd, his family and the group will
enter together after a response is received
from Rome.
Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, S.S.J., is
the sponsoring ordinary for both men who
sought to become Roman priests under the
“pastoral provision” put into effect by the
Vatican for Anglican clergymen in 1980.
Archbishop Marino said he learned of j*
the interest of the two clergymen shortly <
after his installation last May 5. Both men &
had earlier communicated their desire to <
Archbishop Thomas Donnellan. There was 2
interest on his part, but his illness and J
subsequent events prevented the cases
from moving forward, the archbishop
said.
He was informed by Father Peter Lud-
den, chancellor, that both clergymen had
asked for appointments to see him, the
archbishop continued. He met with each of
them during the summer.
“I had no idea what the process was, had
no first-hand experience. I proceeded with
interest, hope and caution.” The caution,
he explained, was because of the “extraor
dinary graciousness” of Bishop Charles J.
Child, the Episcopal bishop of Atlanta, and
“the implications for our own clergy and
people.”
Archbishop Marino said he “wanted peo
ple to understand what was happening
when Episcopal priests, for reasons of
faith and conscience, can no longer con
tinue their roles.”
“What people need to be acquainted with
is the intolerable burden placed on a man
if he happens to be an Episcopal priest
with a family depending on him to function
as a minister, and now, for reasons of cons
cience and faith he has no alternative.”
The church, he said, “would be insen-
(Continued on page 5)
LEADS LITANY — Sister Valentina Sheridan, R.S.M., pastoral
assistant at Sacred Heart Church, reads from the Litany of Com
memoration at the interfaith service at The Temple to open King Week
observances. (See story on Page 2
Pro-Life March
Georgia Right To Life and other pro
life organizations will host a memorial
service and silent march Jan. 23 to mark
the 16th anniversary of the 1973 Supreme
Court ruling legalizing abortion.
Prior to the Atlanta service, which will
begin at 11 a.m. on the steps of the state
Capitol, an ecumenical prayer service
will be held at the Shrine of the Im
maculate Conception, 48 Martin Luther
King, Jr. Drive beginning at 9:30. Father
John Adamski, pastor, will lead the ser
vice.
In Washington, D.C., Archbishop
Eugene A. Marino, S.S.J., will be the
homilist at a vigil Mass before the annual
)
Set For Jan. 23
March for Life, Sun., Jan. 22. Upon re
turning to Atlanta, to conclude the Jan.
23 activities, Archbishop Marino will
celebrate Mass at St. Jude’s Church, 7171
Glenridge Drive, Sandy Springs at 7:30
p.m.
Special guests for tne 11 a.m.
memorial service will include Father
William Hoffman, pastor of St. Jude’s;
Jerry Nims, president of Moral Majori
ty; and Dr. Charles Stanley, pastor of
First Baptist Church of Atlanta.
Parking will be available at the
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium with
shuttle bus connections to the Capitol.
For further information, call 888-7821.